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Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Kobold parts, oozes and the ring

'Ugh's paralysed and I'm too weak to take advantage.' - Milgos the cursed

A pale and weak Milgos with ring

Ugh lamented his lack
of success in communicating specific orders to his strange looking dog. If only there was a way to speak with
the beast. He went about the city stopping strangers in the street asking them
if perhaps they knew of some magic that could aid in chatting to dogs. Most
folk avoided him, small children mocked him but one man took time from his busy
schedule to assist him. Magnus was a merchant by trade and delayed a
chiropractic appointment to inform the desperate half orc that the magic he
sought may be within the purview of the mad hermit who dwelt in the forbidden
woods to the west. None but the desperate ventured there for it was too
dangerous. Ugh made a mental note to seek the recluse at a later point and instead
sought out his delving companion. He found the dark elf at the martial square watching
on attentively as his hirelings Betty and Beatrice went through their paces.
They had recently acquired their henchmen diplomas and could now call
themselves warriors. With a full roster the fellowship set off for the dungeon.

As they ventured
beneath the earth Berk the forgotten lit up a lantern before fading into the
background. Milgos suggested recruiting the orcs again and so the group made
their way to the orcs lair. The passageways and rooms seemed as they had been
left till they arrived at the kobold’s chamber. There a scene of carnage
appalled them. Kobold parts lay strewn willy nilly as the room now better
resembled an abattoir. Grimly pressing on they followed a trail of bloody
footprints to the orcs barracks. There was no sign of the orcs. A smashed and
looted chest against a wall indicated that they were unlikely to encounter
their orcish allies. Milgos recalled the secret chamber said to be close at
hand and became worried. It seemed Ugh had the same idea and they both rushed
to the north where the treasure was said to lie.

Peering into the room the
pair saw a grey ooze slowly dissolving a number of bodies. The ooze was pelted
with flasks of burning oil, which seemed to have little to no effect. It rolled
after them reaching out with slimy pseudopods but to no avail. The group were
too swift and Milgos was able to pelt the creature to death with magic missiles
from his wand. The dissolved corpses were unrecognisable. Searching the chamber
they quickly located a pivoting wall to the north. Ever suspicious Ugh opened
it from a unique angle. Within the chamber was another ooze. It lay in ambush
against a wall but Ugh, who had long had the ability to think like an ooze, was
alert to it’s sneaky ways. Once again the group led the viscous fluid a merry dance
that ultimately ended with its slow form slain by wand.

Apart from the ooze
the secret chamber contained a number of stone receptacles. Milgos noticed that
they were trapped and ingeniously used water to render the poison gas, contained
within a number of vessels, inert. Sadly the water ruined some scrolls but a magic
ring (dubbed the pooh ring as it had been concealed in honey) and mace were
liberated along with plenty of coin. The ring seemed to call to Milgos and he
put it on thinking it to be a ring of invisibility. It was, kind of.

Further searching
found a door marked with the orcish rune for death. Milgos willed himself
invisible in case trouble lay beyond the door. Beyond the door lay empty crates
and chests. The party set about searching the chamber. After a while Milgos
began to feel weak. It was the ring. It was cursed though the elf would not
believe it. More magic was afoot for when the group opened the door, which had
closed on them while they searched, they determined that they had been the victims
of some sort of teleport. They were in unfamiliar tunnels and their usual modus
operandi of returning to town was blown out of the water. They needed an exit
and fast.

Exploring a tunnel to the
east the group encountered a gelatinous cube that they duly dispatched. Fang II
wolfed down several large chunks of cube as if it was the most delicious thing
in the world. This was odd as the transparent monstrosity is said to have a
paralysing touch. Further exploration led to the discovery of ghouls feasting
on a some unfortunate’s corpse. Janna used her clerical powers to turn the
creatures but not before Ugh had been paralysed by their touch. Betty and
Beatrice finished off the cowering ghouls with a little help from the rapidly
weakening Milgos. With combat over the band waited till Ugh recovered from the
paralysis. It took almost an hour for the burly half orc to do so. Milgos would
have drawn a moustache on his friend while he lay their helpless but he simply
couldn’t muster up the energy. He felt drained and exhausted and he could not
work out why. Milgos was so tired they decided to take the risk of resting in
the dungeon. The group set up camp in the room with the half digested human and
some dismembered ghouls. Hardly the ideal site.